It's My Life
by Valentina
Summary: Vignette: Tinga tells Zack that she is going to marry Charlie.


**It's My Life**  
  
Summary: Tinga tells Zack that she is going to marry Charlie.  
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters belong to Cameron/Eglee etc.  
Authors Note: Ok I fixed this up a little so the perfectionist running around inside my head would be happy. The concept hasnt changed, its just a bit longer now. I've also decided I'm definitely going to write the story about Tinga telling Zack she is pregnant :)

---------- 

It had been a long trip from Atlanta to Portland, but Tinga's message sounded urgent so Zack had sped most of the way there. He tried to reason out what could possibly be wrong. Certainly not Manticore or she would have met him elsewhere than where she had made her home for the past eight months. Possibly her seizures were getting worse? Maybe somebody suspected that she was different from your average girl? Zack quickly pushed these thoughts from his mind. No use speculating when the answer to his question was only a short while away.  
  
Zack pulled up in front of Tinga's apartment block and quickly scaled the stairs to the third floor where she lived. He knocked on the door and could here her making her way from another room to answer the door. As the door swung open Tinga gave Zack a quick hug before ushering him in.  
  
"Hey stranger, where have u been the last few months?" The look on Tinga's face told Zack she was genuinely pleased to see him. "I was hoping you would get here in time."  
  
"In time for what?" Zack wasn't quite sure what was talking about, but from the tone of her voice it didn't seem like she was in any danger. In fact, she seemed like she was ready to burst if she didn't impart her news straight away.  
  
"I'm getting married next week!" Tinga blurted.  
  
"You're what?" Zack asked incredulously. The look on his face said it all - he wasn't happy with the information she had just broken to him.  
  
"You heard me Zack," Tinga said. "I'm getting married."  
  
"No you're n-"  
  
"Yes I am!" Tinga interrupted. She began to pace the room, trying to work out exactly how she was going to explain everything to her mission focused brother. This wasn't the reaction she had envisioned. She had hoped he would be happy for her. Obviously, he wasn't. Yet again he was placing safety above happiness and thought he could bully her into doing things his way. In fact, he wasn't the type to let any of his siblings make their own decisions, let alone their own mistakes - which Zack obviously thought this wedding would be. "Zack, I love Charlie. I want to spend my life with him. I'm sick of running. I'm sick of hiding. I'm sick of looking over my shoulder every five minutes just in case Manticore is on my heels! Aren't you sick of that too?"  
  
"It doesn't matter what I'm sick of. As long as Manticore is out there, we're on the run. It's as simple as that. There are hundreds of soldiers out there searching for us. Love doesn't make all that disappear!" Zack was furious. He didn't begrudge her for _wanting_ a normal life, but she was an X5, and the X5 weren't normal, she had to protect herself at all costs. Being married meant that Tinga would have one more liability on her hands. No. Being married meant that Tinga had a liability that would affect them all.  
  
"What about Charlie," he asked. "Does he know?"  
  
"Not yet-"  
  
"What do you mean 'not yet'?" Zack said. "He can't know about us, not now, not ever. If you want to screw up your life then that's your choice. But he's a liability I'm not willing to risk. You can forget what you know if need be - the contact number, everything you know of what happened since the escape. But Lydecker would just have to twist his arm just a little bit before he betrays us all!" Zack's voice had risen until he was almost yelling. "You may want to live out your life in a Manticore cellblock but I'm sure the rest of your brothers and sisters wouldn't want to be subjected to the same fate!"  
  
"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do? It's my life Zack! I'll live it the way I want to!" Tinga knew it was hopeless to think that she might make Zack understand why she was getting married. Love was concept he didn't seem to understand too well. "I know this goes against all the rules we have set for ourselves in the outside world, but I want to settle down, to actually _live_. It's as simple as that."  
  
"Fine! You can live your life. You can get married. But don't come running to me when it all gets shot to pieces and you can't handle it! I want nothing to do with it!" Zack turned to storm out of the room.  
  
"But Zack!" Tinga's distressed tone made him pause to hear her out. "I wanted you to be at the ceremony. It's on Friday. Please? So I can at least know I have some family with me?"  
  
Zack turned around to see a pleading look in Tinga's eyes. He was her big brother and didn't want to hurt her, but if it was the only way he could show how much he disapproved of the proposed ceremony, then that was what he had to do. "Forget it." His tone was void of all emotion. Zack slowly walked out the door and shut it behind him. He didn't want to do this to her, but he had no other choice.  
  
Zack didn't leave town immediately like he normally would. He stuck around to keep an eye on Tinga. He told himself it was just to make sure she didn't slip up and tell Charlie anything, but truth be told, he really was happy for her. Tinga had managed what he couldn't - she had found a way to feel at home in a world that wasn't made for them. Friday came and Zack slipped in the back of the small church where she was having her wedding part of the way through the ceremony. Tinga looked so beautiful, standing there dressed in white at the altar. And from what he could tell, Charlie didn't seem like that bad a guy either. As Tinga said her vows a small smile crept across Zack's lips. "Congratulations sister," he whispered to himself before silently making his way out the door.


End file.
